Chinese New Year is just around the corner! This dish seems apt for the Lunar New Year ‘coz it’s so ang ang (red, red – in Hokkien)!
We love this recipe by Maangchi for the combination of deep-fried tofu with sticky sauce made of gochujang, rice syrup and ketchup.
First we deep fry the tofu to get the nice crunchy texture. Then we coat it with the sauce. Imagine Korean fried chicken with its spicy, sweet sticky sauce, but with tofu.
It’s super yummy! We couldn’t find rice syrup and used honey but it still turned out just as delicious!
Key Tips
* We loved Maangchi’s tips of coating the tofu with potato starch by shaking them together in a bag.
* Double-fry tofu to get the real crunchy skin.
* Adjust the sauce for your preferred level of spiciness and sweetness.
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Key Steps in Pictures
Cut tofu and pat dry 
Place tofu and potato starch in bag 
Close bag and shake until tofu are coated 
Open and separate tofu from each other 
Test the oil by placing a tofu. If it’s bubbling, the oil is hot enough
First fry until light brown and crispy 
Mix gouchujang, honey and ketchup 
Second fry to make tofu crispy 
Korean sweet spicy tofu (두부강정) RECIPE
Course: Lunch, DinnerCuisine: KoreanDifficulty: Easy4
servings15
minutes20
minutesCrunchy tofu in sweet, spicy and sticky sauce
(Dubu-gangjeong 두부강정)
Ingredients
2 cups vegetable oil
400g firm tofu
1/4 cup potato starch
1 tbsp toasted pumpkin seeds (for garnish)
- Sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup rice syrup (or honey as substitute)
3 tbsp gochujang paste
Directions
- Prepare tofu
- Cut tofu into 1×1.5 inch pieces. Pat dry with a kitchen towel.
- Place tofu in a plastic bag and add the potato starch. Seal the bag and gently shake until tofu is evenly coated with the starch.
- Remove the tofu from the bag and place on a cutting board lined with plastic. Ensure each piece is not touching each other.
- Fry tofu
- Heat up cooking oil in skillet over high heat. When it is hot (oil should start bubbling when you put a tofu piece into the oil), reduce to medium heat and fry the tofu for 2-3 minutes on each side until light brown and crisp. Remove and place on a strainer to remove excess oil.
- Make sauce
- In another skillet, add the ketchup, rice syrup and gochujang paste. Turn on the stove to low heat, and gently stir until sauce is bubbling. Turn off heat and set aside.
- Let’s finish
- Reheat the skillet with the oil to high heat, and fry the tofu again for 3-4 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Remove and place on the strainer again.
- Heat up the sauce in the skillet over low heat. When the sauce begins bubbling, add the tofu. Gently mix well until each tofu is coated. Remove and garnish with some pumpkin seeds. Serve.
